Yeah, I was going to recommend drier sounds to begin with, as they're more WYSIWYG (or, in this case, WYHIWYG): less secondary effects, just the note itself. Then, once you master that, you can work your way up something with more depth. It's not unlike singing, you first learn to sing without any "effects" and then you learn about how to sing with a raspier or softer voice, with tremolos etc...